Electric flash light



E. LUDESCHER.

ELECTRIC FLASH LIGHT. APPLICATION FILED APR. I2, 1920.

1,410,335. Patented Mar. 21, 1922.

. UNITED 'STATES i'ii'rifiSJ-Tv oFF-ier..

ENGELBERT LUDESCHER, OF CHICAGO, YILLINOIS.

ToIlan/iam..itmagz/ concern.' i A Be it vknown that I, ENenLnnnr LUnii seinen, a citizen of the United States, resi iling at Chicago, inthe county of Cook and State of Illinois,have invented a new andusefnl ElectricFlash Lightof which the following is aspeciiication.

.This invention relates to electric` flashlights, one of its objects being to eliminate the objectionable features of the various 4designs o'i flashlights now in use. Y

Among,objectionable features present in the ordinary; flashlight is the fact thatwhere a slidingswitch is used it readily gets out Vof order, slides too easily yandioften, when carried in ihepocket, shiftsroutof proper position.` lt isiurthermore objectionable to have `the battery in direct contact with the base of the bulb because tliebulb cannot f ,long withstand the hard pressure exerted thereagaiiist bythe battery which is usually pressed by a spring in the caseof the flashlight.4 When thel flashlight is handled the spring engaging ther battery andfpressing it towardlgthe bulb vibrates and lallows the battery a slight ymovement `which often causes breakage of the bulb and gives the impression that the ybulb is faulty whereas the trouble lies solely in thegconstruction of the.V flashlight. `Furthermore in the usual types* of flashlightswhere brass stripsare used as conductors, the strips often Vget out of place or break .and the insulating rings used in connection withthe reflector work loose and fail to insulate'butallow a short circuit to `take place.` .Furthermore .wherea Aspring is used,` forv holding the battery. 'pressed against thebulb .the pressure against the cap which `carries the spring is such as tocause the threads on the cap soon to spread so that the cap will not properly engage the case and must .oftenbe replaced by a new one. j j

Anvobje'ct of the presentj invention is to overcome all of the objections abovenoted by eliminating'the .usual pressure spring. employed for holding-thegbatteiy against the Y bulb, by eliminating the insulatingring usually provided at thereflector and by doing away with the brass strips and the sliding switch generally used.

A further object is to provide a novel form oi switch having a simple forinofv snap for holding it normally in inactive positionand which switch is durable and safe Application nied April i2, 1920.. serial No. 373,190

ELECTRIC FLASH LIGHT.'

specification of'retiersraient. Patented Mal-21, 1922,`

and can be easily operated by the pressure of Y .scribed and claimed, .it being understoodl that, within the scope of what is claimed, changes in ythe precise embodiment of the parting from the'spirit of the invention, ln the. accompanying drawings the preferred forms of the invention have been shown. Y I In said drawings v 1,n the lamp being removed. Figure. 3 isa tact; strip. v Y

Figure 4t. is a sectionthrough a modified structure.

Figure 5 is a- .view ofthe crossstripof theinodified structure. l*

Figure 1 is a. central longitudinal section through a 'flashlight embodyingthe present improvements y I Figure. 2 isa section on line 2-'2,`Figure` perspective view-of the coninvention showncan'beinadefwithoiit dei Referring kto the figures by characters of reference 1 designates the case having the usual reflector 2 and lens 3, there being `the usual bulb stein 4 threaded into the back .portion of the reflector. Arranged diametrically `within the casingl is a' strip. 5 having end wings (iwhichare fastened to the casing. 1 at diametrically opposedpoints by rivets 7 or in any other desired' manner. 'This strip has a proj ect-inglip 8 constituting a contact. l. y.

Secured upon'the strip `5 by .means `of rivets 9 isi a folded sheet'ofV insulating ma-k terial indicated at 10 andinounted` on this insulating material is a contact strip 11 one end of which is crimped to provide two V- shaped portions 12 and 13, the portion 13 overhanging and extending beyond the contact lip 8. The other end of the strip 11 is bent back and overhangs the portion 12, forming a contact finger 14 adapted to be engaged by the base of the bulb, as shown in Figure 1. The strip 11 is attached to one thickness only of the insulating material by means of rivets 15 so that it will thus be seen that there is normally no electrical connection between the parts 15 and 5.

A switch housing 16 is secured to the casing 1 and extends over an opening 17 in the wall of the casing. Pivotally mounted in this housing is a switch 18 one end of which is extended into the opening 17, as shown at 19,. while the other end constitutes a finger piece 2O adapted to snap into engagement with one end wall 2l of the housing.

The` ring 22 at one end of the casing 1 and which is engaged by the reflector 2 is electrically connected by a wire 23 or the like to the ring 24 engaged by the removable cap at the other end of the casing and which cap has been shown at 25. The battery 2G :is contacted at one end by thiscap 25 while its other end contacts with the strip It will be obvious that by pressing ontwardly on the finger piece 18 so as to dis-- engage it from the wall 21, the end 1l) of lthe switch lever 18 will swing` inwardly as slimvn by dotted lines, thus depressing the contact lf3 against the lip 8 so as to complete a circuitthrough the lamp.

Obviously the structure hereinbefore de scribed can only be used in connection with a liber casing. Where a metal casing is used a structure such as illustrated in Figure 4. should be employed. In this structure the end of the battery is adapted to contact with a conducting strip 27 which is spaced from the cross strip 29 by a stripv 2S of insulating material. The contact strip 30 is secured upon a folded strip of insulating material 31 similar to the strip 10 heretofore described and this strip 30 has a spring finger 32 for engaging the base of the bulb and a contact fingen 83 spaced from but movable against one end of the strip 27. lVhere a metal casefis used the inner end` of the switch 18 will move against the contact and press it against the end of strip 27 so' as to complete the circuit. lt will be noted in Figure 1 that the inwardly projecting portion 19 of the switch is provided with a covering 34 of insulating material. This covering will prevent the current from short circuiting through the case 1 when said case is formed of metal. It is of course to be understood that while the insulating material can be used on the part 19 when a fiber case is employed, itis not essential unless a metallic case is used.

lill at is claimed is:

l. The combination with a casing of insulating material, a combined lamp holder and reflector of conducting material at one end of the casing, a closure of conducting material at the other end of the casing for engaging one terminal of a battery, and an electrical connection between said closure and the reflector, of a cross strip of conducting material within the casing for engaging the other terminal of the battery, a resilient contact strip ixedly connected to but insulated from the cross strip, one end of the contact strip being engageable by the central contact on the base of a lamp in the reflector, a housing on the casing, a switch pivotally mounted in the housing and normally closing the same, and 'means for fastening the switch in closed position, there being a. slot in the casing and opening into the housing, said slot being normally concealed by the housing and switch, one end portion of the switch being movable against the contact strip to shift it against the cross strip when the switch is moved away from normal position relative to the housing.

Q. The combination with a casing, a combined lamp holder and reflector of conducting material at one end of the casing, a closure of conducting material at the other end of the casing for engaging one terminal of a` battery, such closure being electrically connected to the reflector, of a cross strip within the casing for engagement by the other terminal of the battery, and resilient contact strips insulated from the cross strip for engagement by the central contact on the base of a lamp in the reflector, a housing on the casing, a switch pivotally mounted in the housing and normally closing the same, means for fastening the switch in closed posit-ion, there being an opening in the casing, and an insulating covering upon a portion of the switch and movable against the contact strip to shift it against the cross strip when the switch is moved away from normal position relative to the housing, said switch, when closing the housing, constituting means for closing the opening in the casing.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto allixed my signature in thek presence of two witnesses.

ENGELBERT LUDE SCHER. lVitnesses Louis DoMnncUn`v`v ARTHUR F. ILBEGANCK. 

